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piston

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.06 sec.
piston
a disc or cylindrical part that slides to and fro in a hollow cylinder. In an internal-combustion engine it is forced to move by the expanding gases in the cylinder head and is attached by a pivoted connecting rod to a crankshaft or flywheel, thus converting reciprocating motion into rotation

piston [′pis·tən]
(electromagnetism)
A sliding metal cylinder used in waveguides and cavities for tuning purposes or for reflecting essentially all of the incident energy. Also known as plunger; waveguide plunger.
(engineering)
(mechanical engineering)
A sliding metal cylinder that reciprocates in a tubular housing, either moving against or moved by fluid pressure.


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It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye, and vast piles of building full of windows where there was a rattling and a trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam-engine worked monotonously up and down, like the head of an elephant in a state of melancholy madness.
The slender expressive fingers, forever active, for- ever striving to conceal themselves in his pockets or behind his back, came forth and became the piston rods of his machinery of expression.
Finally he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction.
 
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